The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation has partnered with four organizations to provide small business owners in the food industry with training - and grant funding.

Applications are or the 2017-2018 class of the Catapult Fund will be made available in the fall. Application information will be announced at that time.

This is the second phase of a pilot program. The initial phase, which took place in 2014, provided training and awarded grants to 11 business owners from around Louisiana in a diverse group of arts disciplines. For more on the first phase of the program, see here.

The 2016 phase of the Catapult Fund is focused on the culinary arts.

To be eligible, applicants must have small Louisiana-based businesses in the food industry. These may include: restaurants, chefs, caterers, food trucks, food product manufacturers, cooking schools and others filling a niche in their local markets.

The Catapult Fund provides a 16-session course, over a four-month period, of business training. Courses will be taught in:

Developing a business growth plan

Developing your business pitch

Finance, credit and managing debt

Insurance and risk management

Business structures (LLC, C-Corp, sub-S Corp, partnerships, etc.)

Accounting and record keeping

Cash flow and budgeting

Sales, marketing and customer service

Marketing and social media

Human resources

Food safety and health

Customer development and retention

Menu development

Local and organic food sourcing

Healthy food options (vegan, gluten-free, etc.)

Food sales in an outdoor festival environment

Participants also will receive intensive training in safe food handling and will take the ServSafe certification exam.

Those who successfully complete all aspects of the Catapult Fund training program will be awarded cash grants from a pool totaling $75,000.

Business owners in the culinary arts should consider applying for the Catapult Fund if they meet the following criteria:

They have a small business in the culinary arts in Louisiana

Their business has gross annual revenues of less than $500,000

They need training in best business practices

They want to learn how to write a business plan

They need access to funding

They are willing to commit to participating in a 16-session training program over a four-month period in New Orleans

The deadline to apply is May 27. After the applications are reviewed and the participants selected, courses will begin in late June and will continue through October. Courses will be taught on Wednesday afternoons, from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., in New Orleans. Participants must be able to attend in person.

The Catapult Fund is a program of the Jazz & Heritage Foundation, which is providing most of the funding for the program as well as overall coordination. The project is in some ways a successor to an older program called S.E.E.D. (Supporting and Enfranchising Economic Development), which gave micro-loans to businesses in partnership with a local bank from 1994 to 2005. Additional funding for the 2016 Catapult Fund comes from Capital One Bank's Community Development Department.

“The Jazz & Heritage Foundation has over the years provided millions of dollars in grant funding to nonprofits and education programs through our Community Partnership Grants,” said Executive Director Don Marshall. “With the explosion of entrepreneurship in our region, we also want to support those businesses working in the arts that are contributing to the development of a sustainable cultural industry.

"The Catapult fund is an example of how we're continuing to find ways to support our community with innovative new programs," Marshall said, adding: “We wanted to distinguish ourselves from other entrepreneurship assistance programs by reaching deep into the grass-roots community, and making sure everyone knows about this opportunity."

Who Can Apply?
The Catapult Fund is open to small businesses in the culinary arts in Louisiana (including LLCs, sole-proprietorships and incorporated businesses).

Startups are welcome, as are seasoned businesses.

Applying businesses must have gross annual revenues of less than $500,000.

Eligible businesses are those whose main area of focus is in the culinary arts.

Businesses that are not yet registered with the State of Louisiana, do not have occupational licenses, do not have Profit & Loss statements or cannot provide a current tax return/schedule C are welcome to apply.

Nonprofits and individuals (other than sole-proprietorships) are not eligible.

Religious organizations, government entities and businesses with outstanding state or federal tax obligations also are not eligible to apply.

For general questions or media inquiries about the Catapult Fund, please contact the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation by calling (504) 558-6108 or sending an email here.